


Natalis

by actuallyronanlynch



Series: Excelsior [2]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Birthday Presents, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-08-23 17:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8335636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actuallyronanlynch/pseuds/actuallyronanlynch
Summary: November, freshman year.





	

It was Ronan Lynch's nineteenth birthday. They were in Cadwallader Hall, Ronan, Noah and Gansey's residence building, and most of them were drunk. Noah had managed to get a hold of the auxiliary chord, and was playing some techno music that he and Ronan enjoyed, but everyone else was not inclined to.

"If we were back in Vancouver," Henry said, the liquid in his solo cup sloshing dangerously as he pushed himself into a sitting position on Gansey's bed. "We would be able to go out to a  _bar_ and drink."

"Yeah, we get it, Canada is so much better than the U.S.," Noah snickered, rolling his eyes good-naturedly.

" _I_ still wouldn't be able to go out," Gansey huffed. His birthday wasn't until December.

"Well, you could've taken one for the team and manned the fort while we were gone," Henry amended, and Blue and Noah burst into a fit of drunken giggles.

Ronan snorted from where he sat on the floor next to Adam, drinking deeply from his bottle of beer. Adam was really the only one who was completely sober, but he didn't mind much.

"Okay, seriously, who let Noah have the aux chord?"

"Henry, you're gonna hurt his feelings!" Blue protested.

" _Ronan_ likes this music, and it's  _his_ birthday, sooo," Noah drawled, turning the music slightly louder to spite Henry. Henry rolled his eyes disapprovingly, taking a long sip from his cup before offering it to Gansey, who took it gratefully and drank as well.

The atmosphere in Gansey's dorm room was almost ethereal; the otherworldiness of the music in combination with the warm, drunken demeanour of his friends made Adam feel as if he was dreaming. It was pleasant, though, and he sipped contentedly on his soda as his friends chattered happily around him.

" _Oh_ , I love this song," Noah said as the next song in the playlist he had selected began to play. "Blue, come dance with me!"

"Oh my God, no, this song is awful," she laughed, but she was already extracting herself from Gansey's comforter and crossing the room to where Noah sat cross-legged on Gansey's desk chair.

"Ronan, you and Adam should join them," Henry smirked from his spot on the bed. Ronan wrinkled his nose in distaste, taking a swig of beer before answering.

"I don't dance," he said simply.

"I don't, either," Adam confessed, shrugging apologetically in Henry's direction. Henry huffed indignantly, swallowing the remainder of the concoction in his cup before getting to his feet.

"Ganseyman, you won't let me down, will you?"

Gansey laughed, his cheeks flushed from alcohol. "I suppose I could dance," he said, much to Henry's approval.

Adam watched in amusement as the four tried to dance in the limited space of Gansey's dorm room, and briefly glanced over at Ronan who was muffling laughter into his fist.

"How did we end up with such dorks, Parrish?"

"You think you're exempt from the dorkiness?" Adam retorted, grinning at Ronan. Ronan cackled, tipping his head back slightly as he laughed. 

"At least I'm not doing  _that_ ," he said, gesturing to Noah, who was trying unsuccessfully to perform a dance move that Adam couldn't quite identify.

"Touché."

"I'm gonna go out for a smoke," Ronan said, setting his half-empty beer bottle on the floor before pulling himself to his feet. "Be back in five."

Adam watched as Ronan left the dorm room, swaying slightly as he dug his lighter and pack of cigarettes out of the pocket of his jeans.

"Where's Lynch going?" Noah asked, eyes lingering curiously on the door that Ronan had disappeared through.

"He went out for a cigarette," Adam said, and the explanation seemed to satisfy Noah, who promptly returned to his dance with Blue.

Adam tapped his foot absently along to the music, laughing and politely declining when Henry and Noah urged him to dance with them again. It wasn't really so bad— Adam was half sure that giving Ronan and Noah hell for their music had merely become an integral role for Henry, Gansey, Blue and himself within their friend group.

A few songs played and Ronan still hadn't returned to Gansey's room. Adam wasn't concerned, exactly, but it was cold out, and he figured Ronan could use some company.

He pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his messenger bag off of the floor, digging around in it for a minute before finding what he was looking for. 

"Be back in a second," he said. Gansey and Henry nodded in acknowledgement, but Noah and Blue were too far gone to pay much attention as he left.

He took the elevator down to the lobby and stepped outside, finding Ronan seated at the bottom of the steps that led up to the building. There were a few cigarette butts scattered below him on the sidewalk, but Adam was unsure if they were his or if they had been there before he went out to smoke.

"Hey," Adam said, taking a seat on the steps next to Ronan. Ronan looked up, his eyes slightly glazed over.

"Hey," he replied, taking a drag from his cigarette before offering it to Adam. Adam took it in his free hand and inhaled deeply before passing it back to Ronan.

"It's fucking cold," Ronan commented, a stream of smoke coming out with his words.

"It is November," Adam said, taking another drag of the cigarette as it was offered to him again.

"Doesn't mean it has to be balls-freezing cold out," Ronan sighed, leaning back against the steps and looking up at the cloudy sky above them. "If it snows, I'm not going to class."

Adam choked as he inhaled, coughing around a laugh as he handed the cigarette back to Ronan. "I don't think that's how it works," he said, clearing his throat to try to get rid of the urge to cough again.

The two fell into a comfortable silence, passing the cigarette between them until it had dwindled down to a stub. Ronan took another out of his pack and offered it to Adam, waiting until Adam had stuck it between his lips before lighting it for him.

"Did you have a good birthday?" Adam asked, absentmindedly flicking ash off the tip of the cigarette. Ronan hummed softly, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Yeah, I had a pretty good day. The whiskey that Noah brought was fucking awesome," he said.

"If how drunk he and Blue are is any indication, then I agree," Adam said, which made Ronan laugh. "I actually have something I wanna give you," he added, watching Ronan carefully quirk an eyebrow. He extended the present to Ronan, silently observing as he turned the sketchbook over in his hands.

It was technically one of the most impractical things that Adam had bought in months; all of his friends knew how careful he tended to be with his money, but he thought that a birthday might be an exception to his usual rules.

Ronan smoothed a hand over the leather binding of the sketchbook, delicately tracing the image of a forest that was etched into the front with his fingertips. Adam didn't know if it was due to how drunk Ronan was himself, but he seemed to touch the book almost reverently.

"Adam," he said, looking up from the sketchbook. "This is... really, really awesome. Thank you." The genuine tone to Ronan's voice was something that Adam wasn't used to, and he shifted slightly on the steps.

"You're welcome. I figured it was something you'd get a lot of use out of."

"Yeah," Ronan said breathily. "Yeah, definitely. Really, though, Parrish, thanks."

"You're welcome," Adam repeated, smiling in amusement. "Lynch, you're really fucking drunk."

"Yeah, probably," Ronan conceded. They bumped fists, finished off the cigarette, and headed back into the building and up to the warmth of Gansey's room.

**Author's Note:**

> [This](http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz200/daisymadi/forest%20notebook_zpsk2sbw1wz.png) is supposed to be what the sketchbook Adam gives Ronan looks like, except with brown leather instead of green.  
>  Hit me up on [Tumblr](http://actuallyronanlynch.tumblr.com/) if you wanna talk TRC.  
> Kudos and comments are always apprecaited <3


End file.
